Wind driven battery charger



Jan. 31, 1939. I B GROHMAN-N 2,145,511

WIND DRIVEN BATTERY CHARGER Filed March 1, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet lInventor F grab/774200 40 By x Jan. 31, 1939- B. F. GROHMANN WIND DRIVENBATTERY CHARGER Filed March 1, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor 2?gro/fina/m 4.

Man.

Afforneys Jan. 31,1939. F GROHMANN 2,145,511

WIND DRIVEN BATTERY CHARGER Filed March 1, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 i4lnverzior 4 E]? f/ afi/rm/m By V M 5m Aiiorneys Patented Jan. 31, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March 1,

1 Claim.

. with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is an elevational view showing my improved battery charger,

Figure 2 is a view mostly in top plan but with the casing shown inhorizontal section,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail elevational view showing a brakemechanism hereinafter more fully referred to,

Figure 5 is a detail view mostly in elevation showing a wind-operateddevice for placing one of the generators in operation,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially onthe line 6'& of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings by reference numerals it will be seen that inaccordance with the present invention I provide a casing 5 preferablyformed of cast iron and equipped at the respective opposite ends thereofwith removable end plates 6 preferably of heavy galvanized iron.

The casing 5 is mounted on a suitable support or mast i for freerotation upon the post through the medium of a two-part bracket 8 boltedor otherwise secured as at 9 to the bottomside of the casing 5 andprovided in the upper end thereof with a bearing II] as shown.

Housed within the casing 5 are two generators, H and I2, respectively.

Each generator ll, I2 is mounted for suitable adjustment within thehousing through the medium of adjusting screws I!) threaded through thebottom of the housing, and adjusting screws l4 threaded through thehousing at the junction of the bottom and vertical side walls thereof.The

screws I 4 have suitable swivel connections l5 with the casings of therespective generators, and screws l4 serve for adjusting the generatorsas desired for increasing or taking up slack in belts 26 and 28hereinafter more fully referred to.

A shaft I B is horizontally supported in the casing through the mediumof bearing brackets ll, I8

1938, Serial No. 193,374

provided therefor within the casing, and at one end thereof the shaft l5extends through an end wall of the casing and has mounted thereon thehub it of a wind wheel which also includes vanes or blades 25] suitablysecured to the hub l9.

Mounted on the inner end of the shaft I6 is a double pulley including apulley E1 of one diameter and an integral pulley ill of a smallerdiameter.

The generator M is provided on one end of the shaft 23 thereof with agrooved pulley 24 over which are trained the aforementioned drive belts25, said belts being also trained over the large diameter pulley 2!.

On the shaft 26 of the generator I2 is provided a grooved pulley 21 overwhich is trained the aforementioned drive belt 28 and said belt 28 isalso trained over the small diameter pulley 22. It will thus be seenthat the shafts of the generators are driven from the wind wheel shaftl6 as the latter rotate.

For applying, when desired, a braking action to the pulleys 2!, 22 thereis provided a brake shoe 29 accommodated within the confines of theflange of the large diameter pulley 2i and mounted on one end of a rod30 that is pivotally mounted as at 3| on the bearing standard l8 asshown in Figure 4.

The free end of the lever works in a suitable guide 35 provided on oneof the end plates 6 as shown in Figure 3.

A conductor plate 33 is suitably secured to the lower end of a pair ofpull links 32 which are disposed at opposite sides of shaft I6 and attheir upper ends are pivoted as at 32a in an intermediate portion of thebrake lever 30. tor rod 34 has a headed end thereof engaged with theplate 33 and extends downwardly through the mast or standard 1. At itslower end the rod 34 is connected through the medium of a suitableinsulator 43 with a pull cord 44. Disposed against the underside of theplate 33 and about the rod 34 is a disk 45 of insulating material.Disposed on the rod 34 and interposed between the disk 45 and the bottomof the casing 5 is a coil spring 46. Spring 46 normally acts on theplate 45 and associated parts to urge the lever 35! to the positionshown in Figure 3, in which position brake shoe Z9 is out of frictionalcontact with the pulley 2|. It will thus be seen that by pullingdownwardly on the cord 44 lever 3E3 will be cause to rock on its pivot35 thus moving the brake shoe 29 into frictional engagement with thepulley 2| for applying a braking action to the wind wheel shaft l6.

As clearly shown in Figure 2, and for obtain- A conducing current fromthe generator II, the latter is electrically connected with theconductor disk 33 through the medium of a conduit wire 41. Also, and asclearly shown in Figure 2 there is suitably mounted within the casing acut-out 43 one side of which is electrically connected with thegenerator l2 through the medium of a wire 49 while the other side of thecut-out 48 is connected with the conductor disk 33 through the medium ofa conductor wire 50.

As shown in Figure 3 there is suitably provided at some desired locationa galvanized plate 5|, an ammeter 52, and a cut-out 53. One side of thecut-out 53 is connected through the medium of a wire 54 with theconductor rod 34 while the other side of the cut-out 53 is connectedthrough the medium of a wire 55 with one side of the ammeter 52. Theother side of the ammeter 52 is connected through the medium of a wire56 with one side of the battery B that is to be charged. The other sideof the battery B is connected through the medium of a wire 51 with theplate 5| and which wire 51 is also connected to the mast I which is ofmetal and forms a ground.

It will thus be seen that normally when the device is in operationcurrent from the generator II is supplied to the batery B for chargingthe latter.

Also, as apparent from the above, the generator l2 normally idles and isonly brought into operation for supplying current to the battery whenthe wind is strong enough to act on a governor shown in Figure 5 andwhich consists, as shown in said figure, of a vertical shaft 35journaled in the bottom of the casing 5 and provided at its lower endwith an arm 31 to which is pivoted as at 38 a vane 39. At the pivotedend thereof the vane 39 is provided with an abutment lug 39m andinterposed between the abutment lug 39a and the adjacent end of the arm31 is a spring 49 Which normally urges the vane 39 to an angularposition relative to the arm 31.

On the upper end of the shaft 36 and insulated therefrom as at 4| is acontact brush 42 that is arranged in the path of the armature I2a ofgenerator I2, and is connected with a brush of the generator l2 throughthe medium of a wire 58. It will thus be seen that normally the brush 42is held out of contact through the medium of a spring 43 as shown inFigure 5 with the armature in of the generator I2. When, however, thewind is strong enough to swing the vane 39 against the action of spring40 into a position substantially paralleling arm 31 and consequentlycause arm 31 together with shaft 35 to rotate in opposition to spring 43brush 42 will move into contact with the armature [2a of the generatorl2 and current from the generator l2 will then be utilized, in additionto the current from' the generator I I for charging the battery B or asmany batteries as may be connected with the device for the purpose ofbeing charged.

It will thus be seen that normally the generator II will charge during alow wind velocity while generator l2 idles under such conditions.However when the velocity of the wind materially increases generator I2is also forced into action to supplement the work of the generator II insupplying electricity for charging the batteries connected with thedevice.

It is thought that a clear understanding of the construction, utility,operation and advantages of a wind-driven battery charger embodying thefeatures of the present invention will be had without a more detaileddescription thereof.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In a device of the character described, a support, means mounted on thesupport for free rotation thereon, a generator mounted on said means, awind wheel shaft mounted on said means, a wind wheel on one end of saidshaft, power transmission mechanism connecting said shaft with thegenerator, a vertical shaft journaled on said means adjacent saidgenerator, a contact brush mounted on said vertical shaft for movementinto and out of engagement with an armature of said generator, an armsecured to said vertical shaft and extending at right angles thereto, awind vane pivoted on the free end of said arm and including a lug on thepivoted end thereof, and an expansion spring engaging the lug and armfor urging the vane in a direction opposite to the direction of thewind, said lug coacting with the arm in limiting the pivotal movement ofthe vane in one direction.

BENJAMIN F. GROHMANN.

